Foucault

Jonathan Laidlow · 17 Dec 1999, 12:09 · from urth-v0028.mbox · original

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From: "Jonathan Laidlow" <LAIDLOJM at hhs.bham.ac.uk>
Subject: (urth) Foucault
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 12:09:39 GMT
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Jeremy also wrote:
"So what F. challenges is not the author as individual who writes, but auth=
or as unified=20
idea. We should be looking at the system of dispersion of discourse, its di=
scontinuities,=20
how it ebbs and flows together. You already provided a good summary of the =
author-
function (must cut and paste into myown notes!)."
Precisely - the author, as well as being a physcial being who writes, is al=
so a constructed=20
feature of discourse, which works on some levels to control the reception o=
f that=20
discourse - hence my suggestion of the very different ways we might read Ki=
lgore Trout's=20
'BotNS'. Your quote from Foucault looked excellent - I've been searching fo=
r more=20
discussion of the Author Function, is it readily available in a collection?=
 I'd be grateful if=20
you'd send me more details privately (vacation email to: ultan01 at yahoo.co.u=
k)
On Materiality of the book Jeremy said:
"Well the only thing I can think of is how certain texts might be seen to b=
evalorised by=20
receiving expensive bindings and illustration plates."
Its a bit more than that in my own research - stems from the belief that ra=
ther than read=20
works as the genius outpourings of a solitary figure we should recognise th=
e influence and=20
importance of editors, publishers, artists, type-setters and so forth in th=
e process of=20
production. Sterne is an interesting figure because, like Blake but on a co=
mmercial level,=20
he chose to keep tight control over the appearance of his books - choosing =
the format=20
(octavo), layout, and special features (wobbly lines, black pages, use of f=
ootnotes=20
merging with the main text). One Sf example might be Alfred Bester's 'Stars=
 my=20
Destination' (or is it the Demolished Man) which plays with concrete poetry=
 later on, and=20
was butchered by editors at one point. Now happily restored. The point is t=
hat meaning=20
does not just come from one source - whether that be the author's stated pu=
rpose, or the=20
linguistic units on the page.
The argument continues in the debate in the 80s over the 'correct' edition =
of Joyce's=20
Ulysses, which started from the principle that Joyce's aims had been misrep=
resented in=20
the original published edition because of editorial interference. A 'correc=
ted' text duly=20
appeared. This was then lambasted by a scholar who argued that Joyce had be=
en=20
working with the publishers to insert jokes and other references in the pub=
lished edition. I=20
forget the exact details, but one of them was the appearance of a number in=
 the text that=20
corresponded to the page that it appeared on.

" On theother hand, there is a more underground literature (not, after F., =
theVictorian=20
again!) which might "mask" its interior (anyone read the SixteenPleasures?)=
. This was=20
Clute's idea in that Salon piece I guess. You have toknow the "code" to acc=
ess the=20
material, and there is a certain jargon,look, illustration type, etc that s=
ignals to the=20
cognoscenti. So there is a"discourse" to the appearance of the book which c=
an exclude=20
or filteraccess. Well, maybe not! You'll have to tell us more about your wo=
rk..."

I seem to remember an argument that Oscar Wilde's plays, while performed in=
 the=20
mainstream London theatres, also contained lots of jokes which old made sen=
se to the=20
turn of the century London gay culture. As these were deliberately designed=
 not to be=20
understood by the 'ordinary' audience, there was some debate about whether =
these=20
sections should be spelt out in modern editions of the plays, or left for t=
he reader to take=20
or leave.

Right, I'm finishing work now until the new year. I should have sporadic ac=
cess to my=20
Uni account via the web and will keep checking the Urth and Whorl lists. Sh=
ould any of=20
you like to contact me, it would be best to use my yahoo email account,=20
ultan01 at yahoo.co.uk

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays and have a fantastic New Year if I don't get=
 back to=20
the list.

Jonathan
Visit Ultan's Library - A Gene Wolfe web resource
http://members.tripod.co.uk/laidlow/index.htm
Jonathan Laidlow
University of Birmingham, UK

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/

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